Ho Companions,
It is hard to believe we are entering the Month of March. I trust this message finds you and your family well. With the Coronavirus Disease spreading in the United States, 15 confirmed cases as of this message, I want to encourage you to take care of and educate yourself and family. Coughing, shortness of breath, and fever, please seek medical attention as this is not the time to play Doctor for yourself. Here is a link to the Center for Disease Control for the Coronavirus Disease Symptoms; https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/symptoms.htm
So far this year your Chapter has raised over $400 towards our local Project Lifesaver. All proceeds collected this year for our meals will go to this worthwhile charity. All meals are either prepared or furnished by my wife, Laura. We will be attending an Alzheimer’s fundraiser on Saturday, February 29th from 3 – 7 PM at the Long Ridge Cigars located at 141 Featherbed Lane in Winchester. For a $50 donation you will have a 5 shot flight of bourbon and a Nat Sherman cigar. Come out for the fun and fellowship. Long Ridge Cigars will donate all proceeds to the Alzheimer Association.
The Mark Master degree emphasizes the lessons of regularity, discipline, and integrity. It is a most impressive Degree centered on the story of the Fellowcraft of the quarry and their role in the building of the Temple. The Mark Master Mason degree teaches a Mason how to earn those wages, how to prove his work is his own, and what the penalty for fraud was during the building of the Temple. The Keystone is a symbol of the Mark Mason. It is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch or vault to bear weight. As I do in many of my messages, I ask that you examine yourself, thoroughly, examine the several apartments of the Temple, what do you see and can you find? What can you do better, or more of? Is your cable tow slack or taught? Always remember what induced you to became a Mason… then, a Royal Arch Mason. Have you learned the lessons taught in the degrees and do you put them to practice? We are a fraternity of friends and brothers, where no contention should ever exist. Who of you can best work and best agree? Everyday our Lord and Savior gives to us is a day we should make better than the previous.
Our March 20th stated convocation (3rd Friday of the month) is quickly approaching. Please make every effort to come out and attend your chapter meeting. We have a prepared meal at 6:30 PM and we open at 7:30 PM, we have an educational program at each meeting and honestly we need your support. As a reminder, and in compliance with our Chapter by-laws, in order to open a Chapter, we need 9 Companions present. We have fallen short many times by only having 8. Your attendance is critical in keeping our chapter active and growing. We will have at least 1 petition to ballot on, maybe more.
In His Name, I am
RE Dennis M. Haas
High Priest, Hiram RAC No. 45
Front Royal, VA
[Phone Number Redacted]
Unity Lodge No. 146 